point : foundations

The main theme in Unit 2 - Foundations, is to reflect on what people have accomplished over time through the physical and intellectual accomplishments they left behind. We pass through history and see similarities between the first settlements. It is shown in their building designs, the way resources such as water were transported, and the recording of the society through carvings and mosaic story telling. Mesopotamia, China, Japan, and Ohio Valley were a few of the places that started using local materials and stacking to make walls, buildings, and burial places. Steps were also incorporated into the buildings to show power, they reach to the heavens and were built by slave labor. It is clear that the foundations of architecture were repeated and every culture tried to leave their successes for others to study.

As we move through time we come to Egypt. The hieroglyphs, pyramids, and temples that still remain explain everything we need to know about this society. Stacking and story telling continues, while nature influences the design of their columns and the Nile River provides more than enough water for a thriving society. They used the sun to align the structures to the north, south, east, and west and their belief about immortality guided them in their designs. Egypt is real; their structures are a testament of how intelligent and creative the Egyptians were. Their use of columns was a prototype for Greece, which can be seen in the Megaron. Center is important in Greece so columns were installed in the middle of this temple. Before long, they wanted to show off a little more and installed them on the outside of the building. Eventually a statue needed to be added in the center so those columns were moved to the sides. The Megaron incorporated three things that are included in every building in Greece, the porch, court, and hearth. Even on a bigger scale, the Acropolis included the porch, which was the main entrance area, the court was the area in the center, and the hearth was the Parthenon.

Just as Egypt was a prototype for Greece, Greece was a prototype for Rome. In Rome, we continue to see columns but the arch system of construction is introduced which allows for large grand spaces like public baths and market places. In these extravagant spaces, pleasures entertained the people so they did not pay attention to anything negative go on in the city. Pompeii is a great example of this. The temple, basilica, gymnasium, public bath, and theater at the front of the city, while the fights and executions were in the amphitheater towards the end of the city.

http://common.csnstores.com/common/marketing/leucos/stacking_a.jpg

I chose the image above to describe the unit because it includes many of the design elements found in the early structures we studied. There are triangular forms that represent the pyramids and the cylinder lamp resembles the columns in Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The rich colors remind me of the mosaics and frescos painted on the temple walls. Stacking is repeated in the circular shapes in the lamp, the wood planks on the floor, and the bricks on the wall. The background of wood and brick connect the importance of the strong materials used to build these amazing structures that we consider to be the foundations of architecture.